What You Don't Know About Jeffree Star

If you haven't heard of Jeffree Star yet, where have you been? The mogul's androgynous style, bright hair, and many tattoos help him cut a distinctive figure, first in the music business and later in the makeup industry, and his larger-than-life personality makes him a force to be reckoned with. Born Jeffrey Lynn Steininger, the celeb's name change to Jeffree Star would prove to be prophetic, as he has clearly transformed himself into an iconic star.

From music to makeup, Star has had a prolific career since first becoming well-known on MySpace in the mid-2000s. From there, the singer/songwriter transitioned into an entrepreneur, and made a name for himself as a beauty influencer on YouTube. Today, Star runs a hugely successful makeup company. His influence has won him many fans (and enemies ... and drama, ahem, Kat Von D). But no matter what you think about him, you can't deny that Star's success story is an inspirational one. Here's everything you never knew about Jeffree Star.

Star regularly sports pink hair and had a pretty public relationship with his ex-boyfriend Nate Schwandt, but he's still not going to make any sweeping generalizations about his sexuality — and he shouldn't have to. The entrepreneur is perfectly happy rejecting labels and just being himself. Back in his performance days, he expressed frustration at being labeled. "They think I'm just a 'gay artist' because I like guys," he told Westword. "But I'm a worldwide artist."

When he was first making a name for himself, Star would often refer to himself as gay or androgynous, but now he recognizes that this was taking "an easy route."

"I am attracted to both genders and I have been with transgender people and I just don't even know if there's a name for it," he told Paper Magazine. "And even with all these new labels out there, I still am just like, 'I'm Jeffree, and I'm attracted to whoever I want to be.'"

Many people associate caked-on makeup negatively, and view makeup as something to enhance your appearance or to cover up flaws, but Star is trying to change how we look at his favorite beauty tool. According to Star, makeup is a powerful means of self expression that goes far beyond trying to make yourself look good.

He told Glamour that when he first started playing with makeup as a kid, he "didn't really know what it was," but he was transfixed by it. "I just loved the idea of transformation," he said. "I loved that you could become a character. So to me it was an extension of art ... it's almost like a mask or a costume. You just feel different, like a boss-a** b****. And I love that at the end of the day you can wipe it off, and you're back to you. It's an extension of your artistic side."

If you've ever seen a picture of Star, or been lucky enough to witness his star power in person, you'll have noticed that he is covered in a lot of tattoos. Star's love of inked skin is legendary, and his tattoos all have a story behind them. Many of his tats are of people he admires and wants to immortalize on his body. Among his tattoos are portraits of Sharon Tate and Princess Diana. "I'm obsessed with art, and you know when you're younger and someone tells you that you can't change your appearance, you're going to want change it more than normal," he told Out Magazine. "So now I'm like a walking canvas."

He does, however, caution people not to get tattoos unless they're serious about them. He hated his first tattoo so much he had it lasered off, a process he said was painful and stinky. "It smells like chicken, so think before get a tattoo!" he said. "Because that s*** hurts!"

Way before he was known for his cosmetics line, Star was making a name for himself in the music industry. You might remember him from his MySpace days, when he enthralled listeners with glam rock tunes. He even collaborated with rap sensation Nicki Minaj on the song "Lollipop Luxury." His first album debuted in 2009, and he performed on the Warped Tour. Though Star lives a simpler life these days, he got a little wild back when music was his career. "I'm all about business, usually, but of course I like to go out and have fun," he told Red River Noise in 2010. "The other night I punched a girl and threw drinks everywhere."

At one point, Star was advertised as the next Lady Gaga, but creative differences led to his second album not being released, and by 2013, he had quit music altogether. It was the end of an era, but Star didn't let the end of his music career slow him down for long.

Jeffree Star's popularity hasn't come without a heavy dose of drama. Aside from his incredible skills, he's known for courting controversy through his many messy relationships with fellow celebs. He's publicly had beef with Kat Von D, James Charles, Kylie Jenner, and Kim Kardashian, to name a few (via Elle).

Some of the feuding seems to have been blown out of proportion, like when Star dragged Kardashian after she posted some swatches from her brand, KKW Beauty, in 2017. Kardashian admitted that she was still "learning," though, and that Star was right to call out her "struggle swatches."

Other feuds have been decidedly messier, though, like Star's years-long drama with fellow celeb makeup mogul Kat Von D. While the two were once friends, Von D publicly ended her friendship with Star in 2016, writing on social media that the relationship ended because of Star's "drug use, racism, and bullying" (via Teen Vogue). According to Cosmopolitan, Von D also claimed Star's makeup line included stolen artwork. The two have continued to take jabs at each other over the years, and it seems their friendship will never recover.

Jeffree Star may have a lot of messy relationships, but he does have a super sweet and adorable relationship with a special person: his grandmother. In fact, it sounds like a lot of his personality comes from her, as it's clear that they both march to the beat of their own drums. Star hasn't disclosed many details about her, but he did reveal in a 2019 makeup tutorial that she was 100 years old at the time, and that he is one of her few living family members, but that she's still living life to the fullest. "I'll tell you what, guys, she wears a wig every single day, she drives around, and she is just living," he said in the YouTube video. "She has had such an insane life. ... it's really crazy, and I'm just so blessed to still have her in my life."

Star explained that his grandmother doesn't want to be shown on video, but some fans suspected that the reason we don't know what she looks like is that Star made her up. Genealogist Pam Broviak was able to track down records, however, that prove Star's grandmother not only exists but that she is, in fact, over 100 years old; the findings are published on her website.

Jeffree Star faced one of the biggest challenges of his life when he was in a major car crash in 2021. According to a tweet posted to his account, he and a friend were lucky to make it out alive after "the car flipped 3 times after hitting black ice."

 A spokesperson told NBC News that Star was driving the car, a Rolls Royce, when the accident occurred. Star broke his back while his friend had some internal bleeding. Star said in an Instagram Story (via ET) that three of his vertebrae detached, forcing him into a brace for months. "I am in the most excruciating pain ever," he said. 

As scary and as painful as the accident sounds, it could have been a lot worse, and Star was grateful to come out of the accident in one piece. "We almost lost our lives and it was one of the scariest experiences that I think I've ever been through," he said.

Jeffree Star may never have been involved with Kanye West, but he was in a long-term relationship with Nathan Schwandt, hitting it off with the skateboarder after he slid into Star's DMs. As noted by Paper Magazine, the two dated for half a decade, with Star reporting the end of the relationship in a 2020 tweet. "The hardest part has been waking up and he's not laying next to me anymore," he wrote. 

Star elaborated on the reason for the breakup in a YouTube video, in which he revealed that the couple had split a few weeks earlier at the end of 2019. It seems that the two really did care deeply for each other, but their busy lives, combined with Star's high profile, led to the deterioration of the relationship. "He never wanted to be famous, he never wanted to be in the spotlight, he never wanted attention, but he loved and believed in everything I was doing and was a part of it because I asked him to," he revealed. "My life is so public and I think it just got to a breaking point where it just wasn't healthy."

Star began dating basketball player Andre Marhold later that year, per The Sun, but appears to be single as of this writing (via Centennial Beauty).